Fabrik, Hamburg
Wednesday, 23 April 2003
Have I said that before? I doubt it - so I will say it here:
This was the best ever Luka Bloom concert I have been to.
I cannot supply you with a setlist, as I was too busy listening.
We were ensnared by Luka's brilliant, clear, sharp, accurate (this word
is coming from a virgo singing in a church choir) voice tonight in a
well filled "Fabrik", one of the oldest Hamburg venues. I reckon
we were about 800 people in this old factory which serves as THE place
for fine musicians. And this is what Luka was tonight - a brilliant musician.
Everybody could feel the joy of playing a guitar really well, and
singing in front of a dedicated crowd. (Even though we had the
unavoidable Irish heckler, a mobile phone playing a stupid tune while we
all were doing our best at the "Fertile Rock" and a baby trying to sing
along with us for a while :-))
We heard 3 songs which were new to me tonight:
Primavera (the subject line is a quote from this beautiful Fado )
St. Bridghid's Song (lovely!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and of course the I am not at war - song -------- and I am sure I have
forgotten another one.
Wherever you are - don't hesitate - go to the next Luka Bloom concert
near you and ENJOY!
- Sabine
> setlist
Melkweg, Amsterdam
Monday, 28 April 2003
Brilliant concert. I know I always say that the next day... Suppose it's
like making love; it's always good, but sometimes it extra extra special...
Last night was one of those mega mega good concerts. Absolutely!
That someone suggesting Raglan Road was our very own Yvette. Many
thanks, girl!!!
Best version of Delirious ever ever ever. And if I remember rightly he
said he wasn't planning on playing it at first... Sooooooooooo glad he did.
Gave him a big sloppy kiss for it afterwards. Probably freaked him out
completely and now he'll never dare to play it again. Sorry guys.
Suggested a SARS-dedicated version of Irishman in Chinatown to one of
his buddies. You never know...
- Sandra
> setlist
> concert photos
> Lukalister @ De Melkweg
Ancienne Belgique, Brussels
Tuesday, 29 April 2003
What a great night! After reading the Amsterdam reviews I thought he would
be dog-tired and that the AB gig would be much shorter and less dynamic.
He proofed me wrong in every way!
After almost 2 hours of playing his heart out he came on stage with
Mohammed. What an amazing combination that was. They played 4 songs together
and you could clearly see that they are good friends. After the show I had
the chance to speak with Mohammed and he's a very nice chap indeed!
I was very glad that it was a seated concert. I'm 1.93m long and every time
I go to a standing concert people ask me to move to the back (which I never
do). Also I feel it's better to concentrate on the magic seated than
standing. Nobody pushes you and you don't get tired in the legs.
As Nico I also like the songs Delirious and acoustic motorbike but I'm happy
he played some new songs instead. I'm very much looking forward to a
complete new album. He's been touring with his old song a little bit to long
for my taste. He's still growing as an artist and it would be a shame if he
didn't, on a regular basis, produce new songs anymore.
The new Primavera song was beautiful as where the other new ones. For me
only the last one wasn't as good as the others. As Nico said his voice
couldn't handle it. It also reminded me too much about his song Gabriel.
- Dirk
Iron Horse, Northampton
Saturday, 17 May 2003
There was a brilliant vibe at the Iron Horse in Northampton last night.
Lovely audience and as usual, Paul, Niall, Luka and let's not forget
Coogee, Rudy and Judy were in fine form.
The new songs were REALLY WONDERFUL and it was wonderful to
be able to hear 'don't be afraid of the light that shines' for the
first time. I loved 'Mohammed', 'Healing Time', 'Who knows' and
'Primavera' as well.
The audience did a a lovely job with the singalongs...because Luka was
on curfew as he had to leave the stage close to 9 he didn't talk as
much and tried to play as many songs as he could.
I can't remember the exact order but this is what I do remember he played:
1. I am not at war....(with new words)...really brilliant!!!!
2. Who knows
3. Here and Now
4. Sunny Sailor Boy
5. Fertile Rock
6. Here and Now
7. Primavera
8. Mohammed
9. Raglan Road ---how is it that he's ALWAYS getting BETTER at this
song...it's sooo lovely....amazing!!
10. Diamond Mountain
11. Dreams in America
12. Perfect Groove
13. Exploring the Blue ---> Black is the Color ----> Te Adoro ----> Black is the color
14. Blackberry time
15. Natural Mystic
16. Gone to Pablo
17. Ciara
18. Delirious
19. Don't be afraid of the light
20. Rainbow Day <---great singalong!!
21. I'm a bogman
22. healing time
I'm probably forgetting something...loads of great music...and lots of
great whooping and cheering by the audience! Two standing ovations!
This audience was really into the music knew the songs to sing
with...and just were a lot of fun and really nice.
All in all and brilliant night and an amazing amount of music played
for someone who was on curfew and had to be off the stage by 9pm!!
Woohooo!!!!
Luka was a smiling man...and I assure you so was every person that
walked out of the Iron Horse last night!!!!
- Vicky
Bickford Theater, Morristown
Sunday, 27 May 2003
Okay soooo the final concert of the tour. Deb, btw, did a
brilliant job of promoting the concert and I think Luka was happy with
the turn out because he asked 'who told you all about me?'... (-:
And everyone pointed at Deb...well it was sort of a a wave point which Luka
got a kick out of as well. LOL... So she deservedly got the lovely
bouquet at the end of the night!!! Well done Deb!!!!!
We were sitting fourth row in the middle...
I was with a great friend and all we could do was look at each
other when the concert was done and say 'wowwww'...and we'd seen
quite a few concerts. It was a great
end to a 7 gig run for me... I LOVED the stage...it felt like he was
in a den/living room...and he said the swords crossed over the
fireplace were reserved for the NYC heckler that they wondered might
show up. LOL!!! He also mentioned that it's always interesting to see
what people chose to put over their fireplaces.
He was smiling a bit after the first song and said he got a bit lost
because of the acoustics of the theater you get the sound slapped back
at you so he could hear himself and was wondering 'that doesn't sound
too bad'...lol! He was hooked into a PA system which at first took
getting used to because he sounded further away, but one we got used to
it, it was GREAT. He sounded great and so did the guitars. Lots of
lovely chat...mostly the intros but he was in a great mood and seemed
to be having fun...
He noticed the cowboy photo in the den and asked who it was and it was
Roy Rogers, so he said he would sing a song by another cowboy and went
into the Bob Dylan cover.
I really don't remember him ending with exploring the blue...I remember
it played but not that it was the last song...but I trust Karen's setlist.
Also, really just amazing goose bump vibe when he turned off all the
equipment and came down from the stage and played 'don't be afraid of
the light'... You could hear really well completely acoustic..I guess
because it was a theater...and he walked around the audience.
He has to do this in Glór in Clare, for those of you have been
there you'll likely know what I mean....the acoustics are amazing and
he could walk down the aisles there. He'd have too much fun and so
would the audience. (-: Just as happened at the Bickford... Good
singing crowd!!! And he seemed to love the people singing along. He
went back to the mic to finish the song. For me that was the stand
out part of the night's performance. Being circled by Luka and the
whole audience singing along. Brilliant!
He said that he'd been watching TV the night before and saw Kris
Kristofersen, and was reminded that with his movies, people often
forget how great a songwriter he is...and that led to 'don't tell me
how the story ends'... Sniffly one. It's hauntingly beautiful but I
find it to be a very sad song...
It was great to hear it after so long just the same. I found that he'd
pull out a song at almost each gig that I'd not heard him do in a long
while. GREAT STUFF!
Afterwards, we got to say g'bye and wish him well...
And with that the boys were off...another brilliant US tour come to a close!
- Vicky
> setlist
Parkpop Festival, The Hague
Sunday, 29 June 2003
We got there early, during Kathleen Edwards' set, and after that we
managed to get right to the front. Well, between Kathleen and Luka
was a band called SKA-P, how shall I put this, a Spanish punk/ska band,
very anti-a lot and with an enthousiastic crowd to back them up.
We ended up going all the way to the back again because
we almost got crushed.
Then Luka. He played a lively set. And Mohamed joined him towards the
end to play "Monsoon" and "Perfect Groove", which was great.
I am trying to think of what to say about the show. I liked the fact that it was
lively, that suited the festival and the crowd (and the temperature), he
played over 50 minutes, he played a great "In Between Days" and
"Ciara". I am not a festival person though. It was too big for me and too
crowded, and the stage was huge and far away. We ended up standing quite
near the front again, but it was still far away. So give me De Melkweg
any time.. Luka once said somewhere he needs an audience to win over,
and I guess in that respect he got what he needs and he did get a good response.
- Jolande
> setlist & photos
Feeling the World Festival @ Fort 4, Mortsel (Antwerp)
Saturday, 23 August 2003
What a memorable night it was yesterday! Luka took the stage at 11pm and
until 0.35am the complete audience was at his feet. An estimate of 5000
people where completely blown away by a guy who gets more funny,
more confident and musically more interesting with every year that passes.
He played several new songs which is a rare thing for him to do during
festival appearances.
Thanks to the Lukalisters who where present. This was an evening never to
forget.
- Dirk
> photos
Feeling the World Festival @ Fort 4, Mortsel (Antwerp)
Saturday, 23 August 2003
Normally a "fort" is not a place I dream of, but this one
was a great and very beautiful venue for a very special event.
Was it already a wonderful background for the brilliant artists of this
festival in the afternoon, the place became even more special in the
darkness. At a time he normally used to finish his concerts, this one
began, but nobody was feeling tired at any time of the show, and so
he continued to perform as long as possible, finally having mercy with
the crew who was working there.
Luka began with some of his softer songs 'Love is a place I dream of',
'Here and Now' and 'Make you feel my Love', the right songs for some romantic
feelings... He also played some of his very new songs. One of the latest,
just written a week ago, was a very beautiful song about the remark of
a 7-year-old girl who was walking along a beach with her father, enjoying
the time she spent with him: 'Thank you for bringing me here'!
He sang again 'Primavera' - a new song inspired by the Portuguese singer
Mariza and her impressive concert in Dublin some time ago -
and his song about 'Mohamed'. It was the first time that I've heard him
introduce this song by a title 'No matter where you go, there you are'!
'I am not at war with anyone' got a very special touch yesterday night,
when he performed it together with Eva De Roovere, one of the wonderful
singers of the group 'Oblomow'. Other great songs were I'm a Bogman,
The Fertile Rock, Natural Mystic, Exploring the Blue, and
the always outstanding 'Te Adoro', this time not included in
Black is the Colour! He finished the main set with 'I Need Love'.
The first encores were Sunny Sailor Boy, Perfect Groove and You Couldn't
Have Come at a Better Time.
A brilliant version of U2's 'Bad' followed in a second encore and finally he
finished with the perfect closing song for this unforgettable night, his a
cappella version of "I'll walk beside you to the land of dreams...
beneath the starry skies ablaze with light"!!
The words of this beautiful song accompanied us when we were walking
through the darkness to the gates of the fort, our way more ablazed by the
light of some lightning hidden between the trees than of the few stars,
but for sure it was not less beautiful...
We enjoyed this wonderful festival very much! There was a lot of great
music by some great musicians, and the absolute highlight was Luka's
show at the end of the day!
- Rena
> setlist
Lisdoonvarna Festival @ RDS, Dublin
Saturday, 30 August 2003
Had a great trip to Ireland last week, seeing everything from crowded clubs
in the city of Dublin, to ancient court tombs, to a tiny island where the only
internet cafe closed at 6 pm.
Lisdoonvarna was wonderful, and Luka was of course a highlight. Unfortunately
my posse straggled in slowly, after being distracted from the Second Stage
after Damien Dempsey's set by Mundy over on the Main Stage. I got back just as
Make You Feel My Love was starting, but Luka was in fine form and put on an
amazing show, much too short of course. My friends who came along were blown
away and Luka surely has lots of new fans.
Setlist included:
Bogman
Make you Feel my Love
Fertile Rock
Ciara
Perfect Groove
Wherever you go there you are (better known to us as Mohammed, but he called
it by the new title)
Monsoon
Sunny Sailor Boy
Dublin 4, written especially for the day.
He said he had been looking forward to singing Fertile Rock in the real
Lisdoonvarna, but he played it for us anyway. For the last song he introduced a
song 'so new he's just written it this morning', and he needed help remembering
the lyrics so his tour manager Niall had kindly agreed to help. Enter Niall
with a sheet of paper, holding it up for Luka to read as he went along. So he
started to sing to the tune of Christy Moore's Lisdoonvarna
"Oh Dublin, Dublin Fo-ur, Dublin Dublin Dublin fo-ur" with lyrics about yuppies
and latte, making fun of the fact that the event was being held in one of the posher
districts of the city. The lyrics are already posted on the message board on
lukabloom.com, as well as on www.theframes.ie where there are lots of comments
about Luka's performance as well.
Here are a few completely unsolicited compliments, taken from my friends'
reviews on the David Gray message board:
"...then off to Luka and my god he was outstanding" - Mark
"even though I only got to see the last few songs of Mr. Bloom he was deadly
(despite missing my song!)" - Ciara
"Luka was unbelievable Ooh Dublin 4, Dublin, Dublin, Dublin 4" - Dave
Other artists were excellent as well, particularly Josh Ritter who was so
happy to be there, he never stopped smiling for even a second. Damien Dempsey
was excellent, his music hasn't really grabbed me but his performance and stage
presence are impressive, and he was joined for his last few songs by Sinead
O'Connor. Mark Geary is another new talent to watch, a couple of highlights of
the day for me were his duet with Josh Ritter on the Everly Brothers "When
Will I Be Loved" and another duet with Mark and Glen Hansard.
Wish I'd seen more, especially of the acoustic stage where the least known
performers were, but I was with friends who I rarely see and we spent loads of
time sitting on the center lawn enjoying the sunshine and great company.
- cheers, Paula
Photo by Ciara Drennan
